Blog:The dangers of percentages

Percentage change numbers are something to be wary of. In particular, the base for comparison needs to be understood. Monthly sales numbers and comparisons with a year ago need to be handled with care. As do percentage changes on low volumes, when product actions or introductions can make a big difference to totals.

I have just been looking at the latest KBA numbers for the German car market in September. Electric cars were up a whopping 197.2% on last year. Wow, someone somewhere might think; this part of the market is clearly hot...er, well, no, not quite and maybe put that Champagne glass down Mr Ghosn. The absolute numbers are still very low - September electric car sales were 532 units, or just 0.2% of the total German car market last month. Nissan is, however, now selling many more Leafs and the Renault Zoe is rolling out this year (as is BMW i3)...so electric car sales will continue to show strong year-on-year growth in the coming months. But a seismic shift, it is not.

Automakers reportedly have won a temporary reprieve from lawsuits filed by victims of defective air bags made by bankrupt Takata that led to the largest ever auto safety recall and at least 18 deaths....

Given the startling complexity of obtaining a journalist visa for China - the code 'J2' is now indelibly stamped on my mind - it was with some surprise how swiftly I managed to sail through airport im...